Where’s Kelvin

Brook Sabin writes:

Could somebody please send out a search party and locate Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis? 

I don’t mean that literally. I know where he spent last week – at Parliament – which makes his absence from the Government’s public response all the more gobsmacking. 

The tourism sector is imploding, countless jobs are being lost, and many are left with a feeling of uncertainty. …

What tourism businesses desperately need is a leader to articulate a message of hope. It needs Davis to proactively front the media, on a regular basis, to give an idea of what the Government is doing to save the sector. Because fronting the media gets the message out to operators, who are in the middle of making big decisions about their futures.

Tourism is by far the hardest hit sector, yet the Minister is invisible.

We have seen the finance, education, media and social development ministers all head to the main podium to be held to account. But not Davis.

I know why. Davis struggles in front of the camera.

I remind people Davis is not a junior Minister. He is third ranked, ranking higher than Grant Robertson. The third ranked Minister is incapable of being trusted to hold a press conference.